No One Can Wax Quite So Poetic About Wine As Terry Theise
Synopsis
From the dust jacket:
What makes a wine worth drinking? As celebrated wine writer and importer Terry These reveals in this gem of a book, answering that seemingly simple question requires us to look beyond what's in our glass to consider much bigger questions about beauty, harmony, soulfulness, and the values we hold dear. Most of all, These explains, what makes a wine worth drinking is its authenticity. When we choose small-scale, family-produced wine over the industrially produced stuff, or when we opt for sable, companionable wines over noisy, vulgar ones, we not only experience their origins with the greatest possible clarity and detail - we also gain a new perspective on ourselves and the world we inhabit. In this way, artisanal wine is the key to so much more than good drinking; it is the key to a good life.
With wit and wisdom, Theise guides us through the lush vineyards, dusty cellars, and vibrant cast of characters that have defined his life, showing along the way how we can find ever more beauty in our own. For novices and connoisseurs alike, What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking is an unforgettable literary journey into the heart and soul of wine.
My Take Aways
When I worked as a professional in the wine industry, one of my favorite things to look forward to was the release of the Terry Theise catalogs. I very much enjoyed reading Terry writings about topics as mundane as weather in Germany or bottlings from the various Champagne houses. Whatever the topic, Terry tackled it with such gusto that you almost forgot you were reading a vintage report on an esoteric wine region.
The same can be said regarding his book What Makes A Wine Worth Drinking. It's not so much a book about wine as it is a book about how to appreciate wine and life.
The best wines are infused with the spirits of the people and places that produced them.
In Terry's estimation, it's not the boring and bland mass produced plonk nor the boisterous and loud wines that are begging for a hundred point rating that make wines worthwhile. It's the wines that are true to themselves and the people and regions who made them that are worthy of consideration. The wines that require you to give a little of yourself, be it your time, your attention, your concentration, those are the ones worth drinking.
What makes a wine worth drinking is that it is honest and authentic. That and nothing more.
The theme throughout the book seems to be words of encouragement to stop and smell the rose, or in our case, wine. Too often we rush through the motions of eating and drinking and rarely do we stop to appreciate our surroundings. This goes for wine industry professionals too. The pursuit of knowledge gets in the way of enjoying the very thing you're trying to understand. Is it enough to have memorized the thirteen grapes permitted in the making of Châteauneuf-du-Pape on the off chance a consumer may inquire? Or is there more to be gained by actually standing in the vineyards and understanding the relationship between the climate, soil, and the people who live there and through that, possibly glean why thirteen different red and white grapes were utilized in the first place?
There is a line - and not a fine line, a big thick line - between accumulating information and deriving understanding.
At the end of the day, this is Terry at his best, verbally gushing over wine and life and all the beauty that's to be found in the enjoyment of both. If that's your style, I recommend picking up a copy of What Makes a Wine Worth Drinking and finding out for yourself. A word of warning, have your dictionary nearby, Terry is not known for his brevity.
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